Expert: Jack Toomey - 1/19/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hello Mr. Toomey,

I'm a writer and one of my main characters have been kidnapped by a rapist/murder who was released from prison on a technicality.  Within hours of his release he took one of the forensic scientist who helped process the forensic evidence in his case.  He then used her mobile phone to call the Lieutenant and demand that his accomplice (a woman) is released for in an exchange.  

Upon receiving the call, what would be the Lieutenant's first steps before gathering a number of officers to search for the victim and the kidnapper?

Thank you,
Angela

ANSWER: Angela,

When you say "the Lieutenant" I would have to ask you what Lt?  What part does this Lt. play in this scenario?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: In this scenario, the Lt along with 2 detectives and forensic scientist (female) worked to secure the previous arrest of the kidnapper.  The police department, headed by the Lt works closely with the forensic scientists and together have become a close knit unit. The forensic scientist is considered part of the team.

The kidnapper is aware, actually more than that, he knows that the Lt would like to have him behind bars for the rest of his life.  

I hope this is much improved on clarity.

Thank you.
Angela

ANSWER: Well if you are writing that a Lt. is the chief of the police department then that needs changing.  No department would use a Lt. rank for chief.  If he is in charge of a detective unit then that would be more realistic.  Most large departments have a Lt. in charge of homicide, burglary, etc.

In addition no police chief would ever play an active part in an investigation no matter how serious.  He may allocate resources and his subordinates would report to him but a chief never is part of an investigation.

If I was the Lt. and I received a call like that I would tell the caller that I did not have the authority to release any inmate.  It would be a crime to do so and I have never heard of any prisoner being exchanged for an inmate.  The best thing to do would be to stall the caller while you make a plan of action.

If the caller buys the "stall" tactics then one of the detectives would immediately contact the phone company and have a trace placed on all incoming calls to that particular number.  Hopefully it is not the main number to the department.  I am also hoping that the caller is not using a cell phone.  If he had just escaped he probably would not have time to buy a cell phone.

Let me know if this is clear.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello Mr. Toomey,

Thanks for clearing up some issues for me on structural rank.  I do have a police chief for the department.  I guess what I need to clear up is the role of my chief and Lt.

Now according to my kidnap scenario, I'm thinking that a criminal will ask for whatever he wants if he thinks he has something to offer the police.  That the exchange cannot happen is only known by the police - this is where I can insert my stall tactic as you suggested.

Questions: Would the call be easier to trace if it came directly to the Lt's direct line rather than the main switch board?

My perp did use a cell phone, it was the Blackberry of the victim he just kidnapped (the forensic scientist).  Since most phones have GPS units installed, wouldn't that make the call easier to trace?

Also, if the police could contact the cell phone carrier (company), would logs of transmitting cell tower help them to locate the general location of where the last call(s) were made?

Thank you very much for your time and patience.
Regards,
Angela

Answer
Oh yes you don't want the second call going to the main number of the police station.  There are thousands of calls coming to that number.  The Lt's private line would be ideal.

I am going to paste something I found from the Internet.  I had to look this up because the technology has changed so much since I retired.  




"The way these services work is by gathering information from the telecom company that provides the cell phone service. this information includes the location of the cell phone as calculated by a combination of factors including the GPS as previously mentioned, and the distance to each of the nearest cellphone transmission masts. This is the same information which the police get.

There are wide range of reasons why you might want to trace a cell phone location, such as trying to find out where a friend or relative rates while you're out and about, keeping track of the location of a child, meeting up with friends, and trying to find shops and restaurants near you. Companies make use of these services in order to track their employees location, and also to provide security for employees when they are working in a remote location on their own. In the end, there are probably as many reasons as there are users.

The way GPS technology works in modern cell phones varies between the different cellphone networks, and with some operators it does not continuously transmit location. This means that when you want to trace a cell phone location, the information that you will be gathering is most likely collected from transmission tower locations.

The location of the phone will be tracked using triangulation - by taking 2 or more readings, it is possible to calculate where the signal is comming from by working out the triangle that fits the signal strengths. The 3rd point is the location of the phone.

However, when the person who has the phone has made an emergency call, this GPS transmission will always be sent. This is designed to ensure that the police can always track a cell phone location, in order to get help to people who need it.

The result of this design that the accuracy of the location which is provided by the service will be greater in areas which are more populated, and have more radio transmission masts, and will be lower in areas where there are very few radio masts, such is the wastelands, deserts, or un-populated areas of countryside. So, it is easier to track a cell phone location with a high level of accuracy in built up areas.

Nonetheless, most times you trace a cell phone location the information from the cell phone masts should be fine. After all, you do not need to know the person's location with a very great deal of accuracy for most purposes.

Matthew Burns is the author of Internet Guider. He has published a guide to cell phone search resources to help you locate cell phone numbers on the Internet."


I hope that this answers your question about cell phones and how the calls are traced.